Paying tribute: Gary Lineker address the congregation at the memorial service for Sir Bobby Robson in Durham cathedralPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent

8:29PM BST 21 Sep 2009

Like the man himself, the mood was warm, dignified and very English. At the reception afterwards, guests talked passionately and lengthily about football, just as Robson himself once did.

From Katherine Jenkins's achingly beautiful rendition of Pie Jesu, the soprano's sound weaving in and out of the columns of this ancient church, to the tenors who sang Nessun Dorma and the organist who unleashed some rousing Elgar, the music that filled Robson's life filled the cathedral.

And so did the people whose lives he so touched. The great and the good of football had congregated early in the creaking pews of the greatest Norman building in the country, the magnificent cathedral that leaps above the River Wear, dominating the landscape just as Robson himself once bestrode the land.

Distinguished members of his managerial trade arrived in numbers. Sir Alex Ferguson gave an eloquent tribute without notes that drew smiles and approving nods from the 1,000 present and thousands more, listening at St James' Park and Portman Road.

Durham Cathedral has witnessed much down the centuries, becoming the resting place of the Venerable Bede, a temporary jail where Oliver Cromwell incarcerated 3,000 Scots and the setting for an eclectic mix that reflected Robson's myriad interests.

Only Robson could get Ferguson, Jenkins, Mickey Stewart, Delia Smith and Ant and Dec under one roof. Everyone loved Robson because he enthused everyone. When Newcastle United and Norwich City were both relegated, Robson told Delia that they had to keep fighting. "Remember,'' Robson said. "Fortune favours the brave.''

Robson was certainly brave. Four times, he saw off cancer's invasions. The ravages of the fifth were fought deep into extra-time before he succumbed on July 31. Days before, Robson was fundraising at St James' for his Foundation. Typical Robson: a force for good right to the very end.

His legacy lies with his proud family, with the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre and with the memories stored in the hearts and minds of those inside Durham Cathedral.

Those who shared momentous adventures with Robson were there, lions from Italia 90 like Terry Butcher, Paul Gascoigne, Stuart Pearce and Gary Lineker, who neatly articulated why players would run through brick walls and Cameroonian tackles for him.

"He made me feel 7ft tall,'' Lineker said. "When he first called me up for England, I was nervous arriving at the hotel in Wrexham for a game against Wales, meeting up with stars I idolised like Bryan Robson, but Bobby was waiting for me in reception.''

Classic Bobby. He cared for his players. They were not just cogs in a tactical machine. They were flesh and blood, members of his footballing family, and he would nurture and protect them. Robson told Lineker about his utter conviction that the young Leicester City striker would score prolifically for England.

"He'd seen something in my game I wasn't even aware of myself,'' Lineker continued. "He put me on the bench to face Wales but did bring me down to earth somewhat when he pointed at me with about 20 minutes to go and said: 'Get warmed up, Garth'.''

This medieval place of worship, more used to madrigals and organ recitals, shook with modern laughter.

"Two World Cup campaigns and a European Championship over a six-year period was easily enough time for me to realise that Sir Bobby was indeed not just a brilliant leader of men, who brought the absolute best out of his players, but also without question the single most enthusiastic and passionate man I've ever met in football,'' Lineker added.

"From Ronaldo to Robson, from Gascoigne to Given, from Shilton to Shearer and from Wark to Waddle, the gaffer was hugely supportive and fiercely loyal. In return the players loved him and respected him. He was everything that was good about the game. He loved the game and the game loved him. He was a lion of a man – no, make that Three Lions.''

When cancer finally claimed Robson, all the eulogies made inevitable mention of the enduring debate over who proposed the successful switch to a sweeper system at Italia 90. Monday brought clarification from a former footballer perched in a pulpit. "It was not player power,'' Lineker stressed. "It was Robson's idea that was then put to the senior players.''

Good. Robson is often depicted as simply a masterful man-manager when his tactical nous was exceptional. Ferguson spoke of attending a Robson training session at Ipswich and "taking a passing drill back to Aberdeen and then on to Manchester United''. Football celebrated the life of a fine strategist as well as a true gentleman.

Robson's old clubs despatched representatives to Durham, including Chris Hughton from Newcastle, Roy Keane from Ipswich, Roy Hodgson from Fulham and Joan Laporta from Barcelona. What a proper football club Barcelona are. They never forget those who served them so well, so their president jets in. Class.

Current players whose careers were shaped by Robson quietly took up their seats, a Jermaine Jenas here, a Shay Given there. Former players were everywhere: Frank Clark smiled as Mike Summerbee tried to slip past him, full-back and winger rolling back the years.

Tom Wilson, Robson's best man, spoke stirringly of the man he shared digs with at Fulham. "He had innate charm and a ready smile, but was modest all his life, even somewhat shy – though he had largely overcome that in later life,'' Wilson said.

"He was always passionate about football, had a deep love of his family and great loyalty to his old friends, with a touching and justifiable pride in his beautiful home up here in his beloved North-East. Friends have said to me you should never finish a eulogy with a cliche, such as 'we will never see his like again'. But we won't.''

Wilson is right. We will not see Robson's popular, talented, enthusiastic like again. The sheer size of the congregation at Durham Cathedral proved that.